A Path With Paws

With all the talk of H1N1 in the news, I have started to get some questions on the canine influenza virus also known as N3H8 virus. And this year because a new vaccine for canine influenza came out, many of the questions are about if vaccination is important.

So what is my overall recommendation.

Don’t vaccinate for it

So from the beginning – here is what we know

• This virus has been around since at least 2004 and probably since as early as 1999 but was originally thought to be a problem in greyhounds only.
• At first there was a lot of fear because greyhounds can get a hemorrhagic symptom from this virus that involves bleeding into their lungs and often times death. We have since found out that this virus does not cause that problem in other breeds.
• Most canine influenza presents as a mild kennel cough with a mild fever. A full 20-25% of dogs with canine influenza do not show any symptoms at all. Some dogs do get very sick with canine influenza and a very small percentage die of secondary lung infections. From my research it seems that canine influenza is no more of a problem then kennel cough and most dogs recover with no medical intervention. Occasionally antibiotics are needed.
• Canine influenza is not causally passed. It usually takes 3-4 days of exposure with an infected dog for a dog to catch it. This is most likely in boarding and shelter situations.
• Earlier this year a new vaccine for canine influenza was released on a conditional license. What this means is the USDA allowed release of this vaccine without as much testing as is normally needed to release a vaccine. While the minimal drug company studies showed that this vaccine is safe, there is no long term data on how safe this vaccine is in the long run or how effective it is.
• From my experience, most vaccine side effects in dogs are not immediately observed.
• The vaccine also doesn’t prevent infection with or shedding of the influenza virus (same as the vaccines for H1N1), but rather decreases the symptoms of the disease.

So we have a vaccine which we do not know much about and like most vaccines probably has side effects, which doesn’t prevent infection or transmission of influenza, for a disease that is not deadly in most dogs. Hmm…. Once again doesn’t sound so good to me.

To me the benefits of this vaccine do not outweigh the possible risks. If you haven’t read my article on dog vaccination I recommend it. I have seen more dogs suffer from vaccine side effects in my practice then I have seen dogs vaccinated with a minimal core protocol (as I recommend) come down with infectious disease.

What is worrisome is that many boarding kennels and groomers are requiring this vaccine. I believe that this vaccine should be a choice between a dog’s person and their veterinarian. I also think most boarding kennels do not realize that this vaccine does not prevent disease.

For further reading here are some good resources on canine influenza –

The Center for Food Safety and Public Health of Iowa State University

Ten thing to know about the H3N8 dog flu from the New York Times

Death is difficult…….

for those who are left behind. It is amazing to me how the passing of one small creature can make the world seem so empty.

This is a time of year I love. The way the light filters through the trees. The magnificent beauty of the colors and the crunch of the leaves under my feet. Fall is a time of transition and change. A reminder that nothing stays the same, and although quantum physics can’t explain it, that time moves in only one direction. To me fall also means losing many of the older animals I work with. Each life gone, a small hole in my universe.

I have an amazing job. How else to describe getting to work with these beautiful, kind and fuzzy beings. I am invited into people’s families and into their animal’s circle of care, to comfort and help. Many of these animals I work with for years. Seeing them age, seeing their people grow and change, seeing children grow up around them. It warms my heart to be part of this. And then seeing them die from this life.

In animals we get the opportunity to see all of life. When we first meet our animals they are like our young children and by the time they leave us, like our grandparents. This is a hard, we are not used to our children aging before us, and most of the animals I care for are like children. My clients carry few photos of people but they can pull out their phone or wallet and show you all their animals in a second.

I so appreciate the amazing being I have known and gotten to work with and while each passing is very sad I know that my life has been made fuller by being touched by all of them. The gentle noses, the wagging tails, the kind eyes and the gentle purrs. None are forgotten.

Sometimes I think I must have more guardian angels than the average person, however I think mine are mostly fuzzy. Thank you for touching my life.

Sometimes I get so caught up in my little world of very well treated dogs that I tend to forget about all the ones out there suffering. In Washington we are being given an opportunity to make a difference for those who don’t have the wonderful lives of the animals I know.

Thank you Margo for bringing this to my attention.

Washington state is considering an ordinance which would make it illegal to leave your dog chained outside continually. Here is a detailed article from the Seattle P-I written when the last ordinance in King County was going up for a vote, Law would prohibit pet owners from continuously confining dogs. This time we are trying to get this passed as a law for all of Washington State as there is nothing within the law to help these poor animals which are left on the end of a chain for their whole lives being denied the love and family they long for. Not only is this a sad and horrible life for these dogs but chained dogs tend to have more issues with aggression and are more likely to bite and harm children and other people. In fact there is a group called Mothers against dog chaining dedicated to this issue.

Here is a wonderful explanation by Cesar Milan on why dogs should not be tethered.

Here is the full text of the bill.

If you are in Washington state please take a moment to contact your legislator . To find you legislator, please visit find your legislator. If you are not in Washington state consider contacting your local government to see if they will address this issue in your area.

Here is a copy of the letter Margo wrote addressing some of the horrible situations she has seen in her work with animals.

Dear legislator,

First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to consider this
important issue.

Chaining a dog as a way of life is both cruel to the animal and dangerous to
humans, especially children. The dog most likely to attack and seriously
injure or kill a child is a chained, un-neutered male. For more on this,
please go to http://www.mothersagainstdogchaining.org/

As someone who has observed and tried to help a number of chained dogs over
the years, I can say I have yet to see a chained dog that has adequate food,
water, shelter or a remotely clean living area, let alone socialization,
exercise or vet care. Many dogs suffer profound neck injuries and even death
when embedded chains finally sever their windpipe. Most people seem to think
their dogs are somehow weatherproof as well.

Just a few examples of what I¹ve seen personally:

A young boxer who was chained because the owner said she jumped on his two
year old son. Inadequate food, water, shelter and feces everywhere. She was
kept out in sub-freezing weather, and you could see her visibly shivering.

A pit bull chained to a tree with no food, no water and no shelter. The
chain was so heavy she could only move her eyes.

Two pit bulls at another house, one chained to the front step, and another
chained to a doghouse in the backyard. There was so much mud, the dog
refused to leave the doghouse. Both were on extremely heavy chains.

A husky-cattle dog who was chained to a tree, and wrapped himself up so
tight he couldn’t move. The owner said,” Yeah, he does that.” Dirty water, no
food, and he couldn’t even get to his doghouse.

The German Shepherd whose owner would walk out the back porch and throw raw
hamburger into the dirt. The police ended up shooting and killing the dog.

The Saint Bernard who simply laid on his side in the dirt, never moving, the
picture of utter hopelessness and defeat.

The people who were in the P-I article earlier this year never cease to
amaze me, either.

The woman in Snoqualmie who got herself a young, high energy spaniel-lab,
which she sentenced to living on a chain because he’s hyperactive.

The couple in Maple Valley whose yellow lab is chained because he’s not
housebroken and he sheds. They refuse to re-home him.

The dog in Rainier Valley who is occasionally fed rice and has been chained
the last five years.

The fourteen year old husky mix who has probably been chained to that fence
in Enumclaw his entire life. His crime? He runs away.

All these people have abdicated their responsibility to properly exercise
and train their animals. It is simply easier to chain them and forget about
them, while blaming the animal for the problem(s) the human has created.

The man and his son in Maple Valley who are training attack dogs. The photo
showed a young pit bull in a plywood shack of a doghouse. They did have
enough money to crop the dog’s ears, however. (I’m giving them the benefit
of the doubt that they didn’t do it themselves with no anesthesia and a pair
of scissors).

The breeders and others who will yell and scream at you that it’s their
right to chain their dogs are merely keeping them as cheaply as possible
until they sell them and make a quick buck. They are no better than puppy
millers in the sense that they don’t care one iota about the well being of
the dogs, nor do they consider the possible damage the animal could do
if/when the dog becomes aggressive due to being kept chained and
Un-socialized.

I hope you will pass a real anti-chaining ordinance in the near future that
has, pardon the pun, teeth.

Sincerely,
Margo W.
West Seattle

My friend Rose just emailed to let me know that she still has openings in her Level 1 Reiki class offered on September 11 and 12th. Rose is an incredible reiki practitioner and has worked on three of my cats, one of my dogs and me. I always was a little skeptical about reiki before meeting Rose, not because I didn’t believe in energy work but because I had meet some practitioners who I wouldn’t want anywhere near me or my patients. Rose changed my mind about all of that.

When my cat, Ziggy, was dying last year her treatments were the only thing that made him feel better and she got us through a very difficult time with him. My animals love her work and it makes a large difference in how they feel. I could not recommend anyone better to learn this art from. Reiki is an incredible gift to be able to give your loved ones, both animal and human.

Here is the link to the class description, Reiki level 1.

The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night. Experts studying the dogs say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop – after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train. The mutts choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train. They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food on the streets of Moscow .

Very cool article from the Sun. Read the whole article at Wild dogs take chewbilee line.

Old Black Dog

–Lynn Morrison (written on 12/18/07 in memory of Rufus, 11/1/93-11/15/07)

This poem was written by a client of mine when her dog passed away and gifted to me a couple years ago. At the time I knew it was special and put it away for safe keeping. But it wasn’t until our beloved dog Jake passed away this weekend that I realized how special it was. Lynn has given me permission to share it and I hope it can help others who are also grieving.

Jake was 14 years old and for the last six months had slowly progressed to the point of barely being able to walk and not always knowing where he was or what was going on. Our lives had come to revolve around making sure we were there for him, cleaning up after him when he had accidents in the house and on himself, and helping him get up and down as he would often get stuck and could no longer go outside on his own.

While I am very sad to have him gone from my life, I realize that the dog I mourn was not the dog that was confused and unable to do any of the things he loved the last few months. It was clearly time for him to pass from this world into a place where he could run again and be free of a body that stopped him from doing anything and just caused him pain and suffering.

The dog I mourn was the happy dog who loved everyone. The dog who would bounce around the house in joy whenever I would get home (even if I had just walked down the steps to the mailbox to get the mail). The dog who heard every sound, kept an eye on everyone and was proud of the job he did protecting our home. He was the dog that sometimes tried too hard and was always inches behind me. The dog that would go up stairs backwards bouncing his bottom into each step so he could watch me coming up behind him the whole way.

At the dog park he would bound ahead with his curly tail waving in the air. He made friends with everyone, even the dogs who didn’t like anyone. He was the dog that all the little kids wanted to pet. In his later years he would limp up to anyone who passed on the street and captivate them with his kind eyes.

He made us laugh with his inability to realize that he had a whole body sometimes as he was a little on the clumsy side. In fact my son used to introduce Jake as,”this is my dog Jake, he thinks he is a floating head.”

He was always there for us. He helped my son when we was young and was afraid. He helped me through my divorce and slept by my side every night I was alone. He showed us all that love is a wonderful thing and that it can be unconditional. We will miss him very much.

Jake
May 1995-June 29,2009

Did you know that one out of seven dachshunds will become paralyzed in their lifetime? That many older dogs and cats suffer from strokes and vestibular disease in their old age? That seizures are so common in some breeds that they can affect 15-20% of the breed?

Neurologic problems are quite common in our companion animals and are some of the most expensive and frustrating problems to deal with. Often times the only way to diagnose these problems is with a MRI, which can cost $1000 and requires your animal to be under anesthesia. Many times in older animals the risk of anesthesia to too great and these problems go undiagnosed.

I am often surprised that veterinarians do not offer alternative options for working with these neurologic problems. Many times the only things western medicine can offer are expensive surgeries, a lifetime of drugs, or steroids with their many side effects.

For example, traditionally a course of treatment for paralysis, back pain or paresis in a dachshund would include steroids, months of cage only confinement and possibly an expensive surgery. While surgery is a good option in some cases, especially if there is no deep pain, it has it’s own set of risks including that sometimes it does not solve the problem and can actually make things worse.

But there are other options out there!

Let’s talk about the dachshunds first! I love working with dachshunds!

They are some of the best responders to acupuncture out there. In fact I have never worked with a dachshund who did not respond to acupuncture. And they really seem to understand that you are helping them. I have been able to work with dachshunds who were completely paralyzed and with acupuncture and herbs have had them back to walking in as little as three acupuncture treatments! Wow!

OK just to be realistic, most take longer than that but the majority can be gotten back on there feet as long as they still have deep pain. Meaning that if you squeeze a back toe really hard with a surgical hemostat they can feel it. On average I would say it takes four to six months of weekly treatments.

Of course it’s not all dachshunds and I have worked with other animals with paralysis including cats and all breeds of dogs. Of these others, I would say about 90% have had a positive response. That’s still pretty good!

Most of these dogs I also put on a herbal I use called Back Support Formula.

Even better is if I can get these animals with paralysis to hydrotherapy. Swimming helps keep the muscles working well while we are getting the nerves to work again and helps keep the muscle mass from wasting away. Dachshunds and other dogs can be amazing little swimmers and it gives these animals a way to move on there own if they can’t support their weight on land.

Unfortunately for cats this is not an option as you can well imagine!

I often work with Wellsprings in Seattle, Washington but there are more and more hydrotherapy clinics opening up around the world.

I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to be able to work with these amazing creatures to help their body to heal and to see them be able to walk again.

Here are some wonderful resources on disabled pets

• Handicapped Pets is a great site for disabled pet supplies and runs the best forums for people with special needs animals. I have had some time to hang out and participate on these forums and these folks not only are super educated on the options out there for working with these animals but have amazing stories about their own very loved handicapped companions. It is a great place to go for education and for support from others going through the same thing.
• One of the dogs I treat has his own blog. Buddy’s blog is a great place to check out the story of a very cool little dachshund and one of my favorite patients.

Soon to come neurologic problems in older animals and seizure disorder.

Also see part 1 cats

Do you know how to make a dog allergic to something?

First you vaccinate them a few times in a row and then you expose them to the allergen you want to make them allergic to and voila you have an allergic dog! Wow! And you wonder why so many dogs have allergies.

This has been known to researchers studying dogs for a long time but is not common knowledge among normal folk.

Most allergies in dogs develop in the three months following vaccination. In addition to allergies, over vaccination has been know to be linked to hypothyroid disease, autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia and lupus, cancer, kidney failure, and Addison’s disease.

See Are we vaccinating too much? and the book What Vets Don’t Tell You About Vaccines

So why do we routinely over vaccinate our canine friends? Why are they vaccinated every year to three years with vaccines that we know last much longer?

Good question! The first answer is that the vaccine companies have no incentives to test their vaccines out longer than three years. They want you to buy a vaccine often.

Fortunately researchers at universities are starting to do the needed research and the tides are changing but not fast enough in my opinion. Ronald Schultz from Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison is currently the most active professor in research on vaccination of cats and dogs. The numbers I quote for the longevity of the core vaccines are from studies he has done and are based on serology testing. Although I have used the ideas and information from a recent lecture I was able to attend by him for this article, it is based on my views and interpretation of his work.

So how often should my dog be vaccinated you ask and what for?

Here is my protocol for dogs

• A combination vaccine containing canine distemper virus, parvovirus, and canine adenovirus (DHPP, DAP) at 6-9 weeks of age, 9-12 weeks of age and 14-16 weeks of age (at least two weeks between these three vaccines). Either a titer for these viruses should be performed two weeks after the last vaccine and if it is positive no more vaccination is needed for these three viruses ever again or your dog should be revaccinated at 1 year of age for these three viruses. This vaccine should give lifetime immunity with one dose at or after 16 weeks of age.
• Canine Rabies as needed by law. This may be especially important in dogs since they are more likely to bite someone. If your dog does bite someone and they are not vaccinated some states can require your dog to be euthanized and tested for Rabies! If you state will accept a titer instead of vaccination this is a better option than vaccinating every year or three years. If you give a rabies vaccine here is an excellent protocol for preventing vaccine reactions, Preventing vaccine adverse effects

And that is it! No really that is all you need – ever less than the kitties!

But what about kennel cough and lyme disease and leptosporosis you ask? What about those Rottweilers and Dobermans, don’t you need to vaccinate them more often?

Don’t worry, I’ll go through it all.

First the diseases you should vaccinate for

It is believed that one vaccine given to a dog at 16 weeks of age or older will give life long immunity with all these core vaccines.

• Canine Distemper
  We know this vaccine lasts at least 9 years. Since distemper can be deadly this is an important vaccine. Distemper is related to the measles virus in people.
• Canine Parvovirus
  One of the most contagious diseases known to dogs. It first was discovered in 1978 and spread around the world in a matter of months. Parvovirus is an almost identical virus to Feline Panleukopenia in cats. It destroys the immune system and intestinal tract and causes death in almost all untreated dogs and about 50% of those aggressively treated. This vaccine is one of the best and there is no reason not to vaccinate for this disease. We know this vaccine lasts at least ten years.
• Canine Adenovirus (Canine Hepatitis)
  We currently don’t have Adenovirus in the United States because of this vaccine! This is a great example of why vaccination is important. However there is still Adenovirus in Mexico and South America so we should continue to vaccine for it. Even though Canine Adenovirus-1 causes canine hepatitis we use a vaccine for Canine Adenovirus-2 (a respiratory disease involved in kennel cough) to vaccinate against it. It works and it has fewer side effects than using a Canine Adenovirus-1 vaccine. We currently know that this vaccine lasts at least nine years.
• Rabies
  Please see To vaccinate or not to vaccinate that is the question part 1 cats. The only difference for dogs is that Rabies is not known to induce fibrosarcomas.

And the diseases you shouldn’t vaccinate for

• Canine Coronavirus
  This one is often added into the DHPP, making it DHPPC. There is a virus in dogs called coronavirus and many dogs get it. The main issue is that it doesn’t cause disease. They get it, it replicates a bit in their intestine and guess what they don’t get sick. Corona virus vaccine is often called the vaccine looking for a disease. Oh and by the way if coronavirus did cause disease you would need an oral vaccine to prevent it. Who made this one up?
• Giardia vaccine
  The strains of giardia that cats and dogs get do not usually pass to people. Giardia is often subclinic in animals meaning that they don’t often get sick from it. This vaccine doesn’t prevent disease or infection but can decrease the amount of infectious cysts your dog sheds and can lower the risk that they pass it to other dogs. But really a vaccine that does not prevent infection or disease? Not recommended considering all vaccines have the risk of side effects.

Diseases you probably should not vaccinate for

Do your own research on these and talk to a veterinarian in your area.

These are all bacterin vaccines which as vaccines against bacteria. Bacterins usually only induce protection for 6-9 months

• Leptosporosis
  This is the vaccine with the largest number of and most severe side effects. If your dog is going to die from a vaccination this would be the one. Leptosporosis has many flavors or serovars as they are called. Most leptosporosis vaccines have up to four serovars they vaccinate for. For the vaccine to work the serovar of the leptosporosis your dog encounters must match the serovar of the vaccine. Many times the serovars in the vaccine do not match the ones in the environment. This vaccine most be given every six months to be effective and maybe even more often. Side effects X every six months = not worth it. Leptosporosis can also be sucessfully treated with antibiotics if caught early.

  This vaccine must be given in two doses 2-4 weeks apart.

• Lyme disease
  There is a lot of controversy around if dogs really get sick from lyme disease. There are many dogs out there with high titers to lyme disease (i.e. have or have had the disease) who have never been ill. And there is a small chance that this vaccine will induce autoimmune arthritis in your dog. If lyme disease in dogs is real, which we still don’t know, the best prevention because this is a tick bourn disease is to use one of the tick prevention topicals such as Frontline.

  Like lepto this vaccine must also be given in two doses two to four weeks apart.

• Kennel Cough
  Kennel cough is a complex of viruses and bordetella bacteria. It is similar to the common cold in people. Usually it is self limiting and will go away on it’s own. The vaccine is usually a combination of a bacterin vaccine for bordetella and viral vaccines for canine parainfluenza and sometimes canine adenovirus-2. Given intra-nasally this vaccine doesn’t have a lot of side effects except transient kennel cough symptoms. That being said there are so many strains of kennel cough that it is also not very effective in preventing disease. If you board your dog you will probably need to get it. Otherwise don’t bother.

Bacterin vaccines should never be given at the same time as viral vaccines because they cause different immune responses which can increase the chance of side effects from the bacterin vaccines. This is especially important for leptosporosis which is often combinated into the DHPP (DHLPP). The exception is the kennel cough vaccine which if given intra-nasally can be given with viral vaccines.

What about those Dobermans and Rottweilers and the dogs who do not respond to vaccines?

1 in 1000 dogs will not respond to vaccines. This is a problem with there immune system. Rottweilers and Dobermans are more likely to have vaccine failure. Occasionally changing brands of vaccine will allow them to respond but not usually. You can vaccinate these dogs over and over again, you can vaccinate them every week and they will never respond, ever! If they are exposed to the disease they do not respond to most of the time they will die. Very sad but please don’t over vaccinate these guys it will only make things worse.

When should vaccines not be given

• When an animal is under anesthesia – they can increase the risk of aspiration for your dog and can lead to vaccine failure because anaesthetic agents can be immunomodulatory ( they can change the immune response to the vaccine and cause vaccine failure).
• When your animal is pregnant
• When your animal is on immunosuppressive or cytotoxic drugs including chemotherapy agents and steriods. These drugs should be stopped for at least two weeks before vaccination
• When an animal has had an adverse reaction in the past to that vaccine. Do a titer if you can or skip the vaccine if it is not necessary.
• When your animal is sick. You don’t need to cause further immunosuppression in this animals. Vaccines for Canine Distemper and Canine Adenovirus will cause immunosuppression for about a week after vaccination.

Vaccines are often viewed as benign. They are not. Given correctly they are very good and powerful. Given too often they can be a disaster. Do your research before vaccinating!

My friend, Rose DeDan, posted a beautiful story, Rescued Greyhound Jasmine Pays Love Forward, on her blog today. Jasmine was found as an abused dog and brought to a wildlife sanctuary where she has become a friend and healer for the hurt animals who need help. I hope you enjoy this wonderful story!

Why do some many of our domesticated animals have floppy ears and spots? Have you ever stopped to wonder why you almost never see these traits in wild animals yet if you look at domesticated cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, cows, and pigs they are very common?

It turns out that these are some of the physical changes that are brought out when animals are selected for domestication in any species. Not only that, but in two or three generations animals can radically change their physical traits and appearance when humans select in this way.

Here is a fascinating article, Clever as a fox, on the domestication of animals and the Dmitri Belyaev fox experiments on domestication.